Hello again puzzlers!
How do you sort your puzzle pieces as you are creating your masterpieces? Perhaps more significantly, how do you start your masterpieces? Are you an edges first kind of puzzler, or do you go all out guns blazing into the main event? Of course there is no right way or wrong way to any of these questions, but there may be some tools out there that will make the task of completing your puzzles more enjoyable!
I’ve always opted for outline first and then into the centre. Depending on the layout of the puzzle I like to sort my pieces either by vignettes of the little scenes throughout the pictures, colour coded for less structured images, or by the main focus and then its surrounding patterns/colours.
Back in the day I remember puzzling with my mum and it was a case of using every corner of the puzzle box to try to keep individual colours or scenes apart, inevitably spilling out into piles all over the table and ending up with the obligatory missing piece at the end. As someone who is very meticulous in life, perhaps bordering on OCD, this was not the most comfortable situation for me! The rogue pieces scattering onto the floor or piles mixing together, the complete takeover of the table so that it was rendered unusable for anything else for sometimes 2 weeks or more made the whole experience of building a puzzle significantly less enjoyable for me.
Of course, those were the days before I found the world of puzzle accessories, there are so many things on offer for us steadfast makers to use. From stackable sorting trays to felt roll up mats and folding wooden boards. I’ve made use of all of these and my enjoyment of puzzling has increased ten-fold. Imagine my joy at being able to neatly keep all my blue pieces away from my yellow pieces in little containers that stack on top of each other into a neat pile? Being able to tidy it all into a small corner of my own dining table so that I can actually use it in between!
Obviously as I said earlier there is no right or wrong way to puzzle. Every puzzler has their own groove, be it using old takeaway pots as sorters, being like me as a kid and making use of the puzzle box itself or completely embracing the use of your surrounding area. Personally I wouldn’t (couldn’t) be without my sorting trays and foldable puzzle board, I love that I can choose to store it away for another time, or equally leave it out neatly and sometimes dipping into a few areas during dinner time – at the annoyance of my family! 😊
Until next time… Happy Puzzling!
